2 500 gal tanks vs. 1 1000 gal. (LPG)

[dlundblad]

Our house unfortunately came with a 500 gallon rented propane tank.

I'd like to gain my independence and buy from whoever I choose and move it to a less visible area, but possibly step it up to a 1000 gallon tank for if and when I get a generator. I've called a few places and it's about a $2000 difference for a 500 gal. vs. a 1000 gal. tank.

What would keep me from buying (2) 500 gallon tanks? It being an eye sore is not a concern. We have a 5x30' slab on the far northwest corner of the property left over from when the place used to be a farm.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

How many things are you going use the Propane for and it you use it now what is your approximate usage a month?

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
How many things are you going use the Propane for and it you use it now what is your approximate usage a month?


Not sure on actual usage as we just bought the place. The water heater and stove are electric as is the furnace at anything over 32*F.

Let's just say whole house generator, furnace, and the possibility of stocking up on propane when the price is low.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

A 2500 gallon tank is pretty huge. But would really let you pick your time to buy if you got it filled. Have you figured how much a fill up would cost you on that tank? I know that the home delivery people in my part of the country are not particularly very competitive price wise. Plus if you buy the tank you are responsible for the up keep and to have it recertified.

 

[NO2]

If you have an average sized house you will use about 14-1500 gallons per year in Indiana. Your furnace will use about 1000 gallons. If you have an extremely cold winter, you may use 300-400 gallons in a single month for the furnace. For a 22-30KW generator running at 25% load, you would burn 1.5-2.1 gal/hr, or around 35-50 gal/day if you are a very heavy electrical user (running A/C, electric dryer, etc.) It would be a lot less normally. If propane is your only fuel and you have no external electrical hookup, you could easily burn 1000 gal in a month. You could also use a lot less if your generator is standby and the house is well insulated. As an FYI, at current prices of around $2.80/1000 ccf, it would cost 5x more to heat with propane vs natural gas where we live in Michigan

 

[tcp71]

I don't think he wants a 2500 gallon tank. He is debating a single 1000 gallon vs. two 500 gallon tanks. I would think they could be plumbed together or have an automatic switch-over regulator set up quite easily.

Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
A 2500 gallon tank is pretty huge. But would really let you pick your time to buy if you got it filled. Have you figured how much a fill up would cost you on that tank? I know that the home delivery people in my part of the country are not particularly very competitive price wise. Plus if you buy the tank you are responsible for the up keep and to have it recertified.

 

[Linctex]

I have 2 - 250 gallon ones. Two 250's was WAAAY cheaper than one 500.

What are prices for each tank size like in your area?

OH - - one company (StarTex propane) would NOT fill my tanks because they were plumbed together (still have separate valves..???)
Dixie Propane had no problems with it.

 

[Snagglefoot]

I am renting a 500 gallon tank. The boiler heats the house and heats the hot water tank through a heat exchanger. I find it's quite satisfactory and do four fills per year. One in Nov, one in January, one in March and one in the summer. Not all the fills start at empty. The propane guy does his rounds and tops off the four times when he comes by. I wouldn't bother with a 1000 gallon tank unless the zombies are coming.

 

[hatt]

Having two tanks allows you to isolate the tanks in case of a leak. If it's cheaper it sounds like a good idea to me. You can also buy one tank now and add one later if you want too.

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
I am renting a 500 gallon tank. The boiler heats the house and heats the hot water tank through a heat exchanger. I find it's quite satisfactory and do four fills per year. One in Nov, one in January, one in March and one in the summer. Not all the fills start at empty. The propane guy does his rounds and tops off the four times when he comes by. I wouldn't bother with a 1000 gallon tank unless the zombies are coming.

You can still do four fills a year with the larger tank. The larger tank insulates you a little against delivery disruptions.

 

[Kruse]

I would ask your supplier if they would have any problem with two 500 gallon tanks side-by-side. Propane "safety rules" can be made up by your supplier or the delivery guy with no real reason whatsoever.
My previous supplier told me that I had about three "problems" with my propane setup (as he was filling my tank) and that they would have to eventually be fixed. One "problem" was that my tank was setting on some weather-treated boards which were on top of a concrete pad. These boards were a fire hazard, according to him. Another problem was that my central air-conditioning unit was sitting too close to the outside propane regulator. It was possible that my AC compressor might arc and start a fire if I would ever have a leaking propane valve. I really just laughed behind his back because it was HIS company that installed the boards and the outside propane regulator. Since I have a parade tractor that is powered by propane, he said that his company would soon stop delivering to any customer that had a propane fill tube attached to a propane supply tank. (For anybody who does not know, a fill tube allowed you to fill the tank of a propane tractor, truck or even the tank to your propane grill)
BTW, this guy no longer works for the company and the new delivery guy just rolled his eyes when I mentioned the previous "safety" items to him.

 

[Linctex]

The only reason i have two tanks is the $0.40 a gallon price difference for bulk delivery.

They will NOT put 250 gallons in a 250 gallon rated capacity tank, So I always have them fill the 250 to 85% and then just dump 50-80 gallons in the other one so I get the discount.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted by Kruse
, he said that his company would soon stop delivering to any customer that had a propane fill tube attached to a propane supply tank.


StarTex told me the same thing. I fill all my 20 lb, 30 lb and 100 lb tanks off of my main bulk tank.

I just take the liquid draw valve off when they come out.

 

[CT8]

With 2 500 gallon tanks you could close the valve on one of the tanks. Am I wrong Assuming the 1,000 gallon tank is the more expensive tank?

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
Plus if you buy the tank you are responsible for the up keep and to have it recertified.

I dont think they recertify the bigger tanks. Not out here anyway. We had the same tank,built in 1941at our house from 1974 to 2015. The gauge sprung a leak and they said they can't get parts for it so we now rent one.

Never was that tank tested.

 

[Donald]

I believe a single 500 gal will be fine. The vaporization rate at 10F is 330,000 (500 gal) and 587,000 (1000 gal) BTU/HR. Thats how many BTU's you can pull from the tank per hour at 10F. A gas furnace will take a lot, so will a large generator and a large instant hot water heater. You need to look up the BTU/HR consumption of various gas appliances and see if a 500 gal is enough or 2 500 gal or a 1000 gal. Look at the gas required, not how many BTUs a furnace is. I would want to have a winter months worth of propane in a tank. Or tanks.

I moved into a home in DE with a buried 500 gal tank that was about 10 - 15 years old. I asked the company that owned it how much to buy. They said $1000, I offered $700 or $800 and they accepted and I said I would continue to get propane from them at the owned tank rate. So it worked out for the company and me. Their owned tank rate is good. But the rented tank rate was high and then there was the rental fee. This company would wave the rental fee if I used enough propane, but the home had just had two heat pumps installed and no longer used propane for heating, just for hot water and two fireplaces, so I would have been stuck with a rental fee.

I am all for never renting a tank.

In my NY home with just a gas stove, maybe a generator if I ever finish working on it we had a small rented tank from Suburban Propane. I found a used 250 gal tank on CL, bought it and Suburban Propane swapped the tanks for me for $100. They are high priced but I use so little it does not really matter. We bought a counter top convection oven and now use the gas oven about once a year on Thanksgiving, still use the gas burners. So minimal propane use.

 

[rubberchicken]

If the laws are the same in your area, then you are allowed to purchase your current tank, so you can then use any supplier you wish. I have a buried 500 gal propane tank, and I try to fill up in May or June of each year. My buyout was about $850 iirc and the payback for me was about 3 years. I currently use Ferrelgas and they are far better than my previous supplier. I will warn you that your current provider may try to avoid giving a quote for a buyout, since keeping you on the teet is more profitable. I had to threaten my rep with a nastygram to his boss, and even that did not work, so I called his boss and insisted that my account be given to ANY other rep than my current rep, and I needed a certified letter to that effect. Once I got that, I followed up with a demand that if I did not get a reasonable quote in 72 hours then I was going to file a lawsuit in small claims court. Just the headache of having to show up was enough to get it done.

The moral of my story- on the very first call requesting a quote for a buyout: make it clear when you will get that quote. When you hang up, call the office and speak to the receptionist or office manager, and ask "who is XX reps supervisor?". Then ask that same person to forward a message to your rep letting them know you called and asked for their supervisors info. You can accomplish in 15 minutes what took me a year to figure out.

 

[dlundblad]

Just to clear some things up.

-500 gallon tank is $1000.
-1000 gallon tank is $3000.
-I would like to have a 1000 gallon capacity however that may be.

I would entertain a buyout, but either way I'd like to move the tank away from the house. Doesn't need done right now, but I'd like to get it done eventually. If my supplier wants what a new tank costs (which I've heard they do), then I'll set something else up and tell them to come get their tank when it's empty. I've also heard they charge a couple hundred to dig up rented buried tanks, which in my opinion sounds like a bad idea from the start.

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted by Linctex
Originally Posted by Kruse
, he said that his company would soon stop delivering to any customer that had a propane fill tube attached to a propane supply tank.


StarTex told me the same thing. I fill all my 20 lb, 30 lb and 100 lb tanks off of my main bulk tank.

I just take the liquid draw valve off when they come out.


I need to look into installing one of these.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted by dlundblad
Originally Posted by Linctex
Originally Posted by Kruse
, he said that his company would soon stop delivering to any customer that had a propane fill tube attached to a propane supply tank.


StarTex told me the same thing. I fill all my 20 lb, 30 lb and 100 lb tanks off of my main bulk tank.

I just take the liquid draw valve off when they come out.


I need to look into installing one of these.

In most cases, the "tube" is already in the tank. All you need is the valve and the hose, easily removable if your supplier has a Barney Fife delivery guy who would cop an attitude. To fill your small propane grill tank, you also need the adapter that's available anywhere. I had a retired propane delivery man install mine with a used valve and a new hose for about $150, but it could be installed by the homeowner. I try to be safety conscious, so the proper PPE is also recommended.